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12.10.12

U.N. chief duped by prank call from fake Canadian PM

A pair of Canadian
radio comedians said on Thursday it took them less than an hour to get U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the phone during international diplomacy's
busiest week - by pretending to be Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Ban was between
meetings at the U.N. General Assembly of world leaders on Wednesday when he
took a phone call from Quebec comedy duo "The Masked Avengers,"
famous for tricking celebrities and politicians.

The pair said in a
statement that the impersonator of the prime minister, who is known for his
helmet-like coiffure, apologized to Ban for not being able to attend the U.N.
General Assembly meeting in New York because he was too busy combing his hair
with super glue.

During the
five-minute discussion, the pair also said they asked him to speak with
National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman to press for a Quebec City
hockey team. It was at this point in the conversation - which switched between
English and French - they said Ban realized he was being pranked.

Ban has more than
120 meetings with world leaders during the U.N. General Assembly this week and
his spokesman described the prank call as not "the best use of his
time."

"The
Secretary-General quickly understood that it was a prank, and he took it in the
way that it was intended, as a joke," Ban's spokesman said. "It's a
busy time of year, and the Secretary-General has a considerable amount to do,
so it wasn't the best use of his time, but these things happen."

The same radio
duo, Sébastien Trudel and Marc-Antoine Audette of Montreal radio station
CKOI-FM, also duped U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin
just days before the 2008 election by pretending to be French President Nicolas
Sarkozy and convincing her to accept an invitation to hunt baby seals.

Their other
victims have included U.S. business tycoon Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder
Bill Gates and rock stars Bono and Mick Jagger.